We were in the van this morning by 9:30, off for another grand adventure.
Oh, that's the most incredible way to start a journal entry :)
Our first stop was Caerleon, directly translated as 'the legion fortress.' This was a large area where roman soldiers trained and lived. Our tour guide, Joe, was a roman infantry soldier expert. He makes a living by giving these tours and participating in roman films and re-enactment festivals, with the armor and weapons the museum had made for him. He talked to us a lot about what a typical Roman soldiers life was life.
Did you know that:
Roman sandals were all cleated
A gladiator was extremely low in the rankings of society
A female gladiator is called a gladiatrix
You have to meet a height limit of 5'8" in order to join the army
You had to sign up for a minimum of 25 years in the army
You were legally not allowed to have a family if you were an infantryman
A standard shield that all infantrymen carried was large, really curved, and called a scooto.
All soldiers were trained as being right handed, so that there was always a solid wall of scooto and stabbing swords.
Every infantryman had to carry his shield, armor, sword, and two throwing spears everywhere.
Plated armor was made so that you could freely move your arms to throw spears
Cavalry swords were weighted heavily at the tip to make chopping easier
Small metal pieces of metal that looked like flat nails in the shape of a 3D triangle (called caltrops) were thrown by the thousands behind retreating roman armies so the enemy would step on them.
And, I learned that full roman gear is NOT AS HEAVY AS I THOUGHT! Yup, I got to try on the guys full plate armor and helmet, and he made me pick up all the weapons and shield. I was surprised to find that the shield was not as heavy as I expected, but the helmet weighed the most!
After the lesson, we went over to the remains of the Roman baths. Bathing was apparently a really big deal back in the day, so we spent a lot of time learning about how the building was able to have hot and cold baths. It's all how you work the underground rivers, apparently.
Next stop was a major roman ampitheatre. This was a site where the Romans has met for games and important events. Two Druids were fed to lions here. I'm still not sure which of the two main purposes listed above that was considered to be.
We spent a few hours here playing Toms favorite game: person, place, and event from each century. I kid you not, that's the game. Fortunately we only need one of each for each of the twenty four centuries we're required to know (first through the twenty first, plus bronze, iron/Celtic, and neolithic eras). It was really good to be able to take notes on a bunch of those details again. We had covered a ton of them in class, but I totally forgot them by now, and I left my class notebook at home. Bummer. Never fear, gentle reader, I'll memorize and hopefully remember them better this time.
After we had spent enough hours going through a few of the significant aspects of British history and the whole royal line again from 100bc to today, we packed up and got back in the van.
Our next destination was Caerleon castle, a royal castle that had undergone the most modern-day renovations I've ever seen. They had all sorts lights in the dark hallways, projectors shining fake fire into fireplaces, glass in almost every window, and even a few other fun surprises. In one small room just off the inner ward, a huge mirror could be seen hanging on the far wall. Theresa and I went into the very dark room and looked at the mirror, somehow getting a little creepier by the moment. Theresa turned around first and screamed. Startled, I stepped in front of her and the corner by the door where she was looking; in the darkness, I made out the silhouette of a very large man, holding a sword. I braced and froze, waiting to see how he would move. It took me another second to realize that this was one of the many fully-painted sculptures of people we would encounter hiding throughout the castle.
We had a good laugh at these guys, but made a habit of sending the other girls in our group into this room, though we seemed to keep forgetting to warn them about what else was in there too. :)
Once our departure time drew close, Theresa and I walked over to the meeting spot and headed out with the group just in time. We all walked over to the distant parking lot as a group and hopped in. Suddenly, we realized that we were missing two of the girls. Anders hopped out and said he would walk back along the streets back to the castle and we would meet him there in the van. It took three loops of the castle before we were able to get everyone back in, but we finally did. One major suspicion was confirmed to me: the pirates code is (initially) the first that is followed when touring with Tom.
Next stop: castle Coch. This was a charming castle built in the middle of a forest, which is cool in and of itself. All other castles I've been to have been built either on a hilltop or in a field, for strategic purposes. While this castle had a moat and a drawbridge, it was definitely in a very lush green forest. It was a royal castle too, but was smaller than Caerleon, and was vastly more fancy.
It had a whole room designated to stained glass, the most exquisite bedroom in a tower (I won't even try to describe this one, you'll just have to see the pictures), and regal meeting and eating rooms. Oh, Ive seen a lot of fancy detail work so far, but this place rivals even Glauchester cathedral! It was unbelievable!
It also had a great tea shop with my new favorite ice cream flavor: Celtic crunch :) oh man, I have a few things that I am excited to try making when I get back to the states, and this is one of them!
P.s., I'm such a penny pincher that I don't ever splurge on candy for myself. If I'm giving it to someone else, I'll buy a ton, but Ive just never used my money that way for myself...but Ive decided that I'm never getting ice cream this good again, and its all over the place here, so I honestly get some new flavor almost each day :) haha, surprisingly, I'm still losing weight! Thank you Tom, for the awesome daily workout!
One of our new instructions for points was that we need to start sketching the places we go to, so while Tom left to go back to the roman museum from this morning to find some items the group had lost (NONE of which were mine, thanks very much!), I sketched the inside of the castle. Miya and I also took some time to walk around in the forest and circle the whole outside of the castle. Those trees were magnificent. The sun was starting to set, so the leaves seemed to almost glow a deep green as the evening sun poured itself through them. And where there wasnt a translucent green leaf, there was rich black wood, healthy chocolate-colored dirt, or a humongous granite castle; just take your pick. Food for the soul, gentle reader, food for the soul.
Well, lets just say that by the time I made it home, my soul became obese. This is Because Tom returned and told us that those who wanted to could walk to Tesco with him, about a two mile trip.
Uh, heck to the yes!
Forests, river, leaf-heavy boughs hanging low over the darling walkway, rugby field after rugby field (some even with players practicing), good company to talk with, flowers, happy people with fun dogs, cool houses, wide fields, horses, beauty.
No worries, I have zero problems with volunteering myself for transcendental diabetes.
Well, the two mile walk evolved into four and a half miles. It was a little warm, and we had already walked about four miles today, but I wouldn't have traded that chance for any luxury.
Tom gave us each our twenty pounds at the door of Tesco. I picked up what I needed for the next week, only about fifteen pounds worth, and went to the checkout line. When it was my turn, I put everything on the belt, greeted the cashier lady and asked how her day was. We started talking, she asked where I was from and what I was doing in wales (as most people do, I still forget how much my accent stands out here). While we were talking, I put my things in my backpack so I didn't have to buy plastic bags, until she wished me good luck and told me goodbye. I returned the farewell, saddled up again, and went to go find my group. I saw Tom and a bunch of my group laughing and talking at the far end of the lot. I was halfway there when I suddenly wondered where I had out my receipt.
My receipt. I did a mental rewind. I didn't remember her handing me a receipt. What happened? I looked down at my pocket. I had never taken my money out. She had sent me on my way and had not told me how much everything was. I had walked out of the store without paying anything for my groceries. Within the minute I was back in the store. I walked straight to the same stall, where the woman was only just realizing what had happened. She started acting more animated, and started looking around just as I got back. The gentleman at the head of the line joked with me that he has wondered when the price of his milk and eggs had gone up so much. I apologized, threw in a few quick comments to keep him laughing, paid for my stuff, and headed out again. Oops.
Once we drove home, Lydia, Abby, Miya, and I all made dinner together with our shared food. We made a scrumptious coconut curry rice with curry, roasted potatoes, and chicken over white rice, with some broccoli and cranberry juice. Delish!
After that, we cleaned up the kitchen and got ready for bed, so we would get enough sleep for another long day of adventures tomorrow.
How exquisitely joyous that thought is.
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